As you get to work tackling the goals with your kids and continue to write up your plans for the week, it is important to think about not only what you as the teacher are doing during the lesson, but what are the kids doing?

One "Teach Like a Champion" technique for getting started with this type of planning, or thinking about your planning is called Double Plan. Follow the link for a full description of the technique. With this technique, you not only think about the actions you'll take as the teacher, but you script in what the students will do and say at each point in the lesson. Doing this can really help you more intentionally create plans that effectively integrate student interaction and get the students doing more work and talking.

You also want to keep in mind the SIOP strategy of Chunk and Chew. During instruction, the ratio of teacher to student talk should be 10:2. This means for every 10 minutes of teacher talk the students should have 2 minutes to process the information or do something with the information they are learning. This might be talking with a partner, writing thoughts, briefly practicing the skill, etc. It does not need to be super involved, but there should be a back-and-forth between students and teacher during your lessons.

As I read back through last week's post I was embarrassed to see I'd misspelled "their" as "there". If you noticed it, know that I did, too and have learned the importance of proofreading carefully! If you did not notice, then thank your brain for filling in the blank and reading the text the way it was intended. :)

I thought about going back and editing the post to correct my mistake, but I quickly realized this is a great opportunity to talk about the good that can come from mistakes and the good that can come from admitting our mistakes and modeling for our students how we can learn from those mistakes. I love the quote over to the left because this completely sums up what we want our students to understand and embody as learners. How do we create an environment that is safe for making mistakes, and is a place where we intentionally use those mistakes as good food for our learning? Below are some of the ways I have noticed our schools, students, and colleagues doing this.

I noticed...

...teachers giving students ample time to practice and master the routines. Students practiced and repracticed as needed. I heard statements such as, "Hm... looks like we need more practice lining up for art. Let's try that again." No one was in trouble. No one needed to be upset. This type of practice was accompanied by corrective feedback, helping students to identify the mistakes they made and holding them accountable to learning from them.

...teachers facilitating conversations with students anticipating mistakes that might be made and how to avoid them. A specific example came up when the teacher introduced some math manipulatives to the students. They asked the students what problems might arise when using them. And then the group discussed solutions to those problems.

...teachers asking for feedback from their colleagues. What a great example this sets for our students to be able to give and receive feedback, to bounce ideas off of team-mates, to effectively collaborate with one-another, to try something new, to take a risk knowing that with reflection much will be gained from that.

Normalize Error - Follow this link to a discussion of how we can normalize error in our classrooms. This resource comes from the book work of Doug Lemov, managing director of Uncommon Schools in New York. For more information on his work, check out his site: "Teach Like a Champion". I have his book and have found it to be a great resource with many great techniques that can be applied instantly to any classroom. If anyone is interested in investigating the technique of Normalizing Error, or want to explore Teach Like a Champion more, please let me know and we can arrange something.

#Youcanlearnanything - This video from Khan Academy artfully shows what learning really is. We all start with no knowledge and through experience, trial and error, direct instruction, and so many other avenues we learn. Some of you have seen this, but hopefully it provides some inspiration for us as we kick off this week!